Custom White Balance

[Killjoy]

With the desire to "get it right" in camera, and spend less time trying to correct things in Photoshop, I picked up a couple of new toys. :w00t:

The first was an Expodisc in the 77mm size.
This thing is AWESOME and easy to use.

I also picked up a Lally Cap.
The sole reason I wanted this thing is when you do a shot with ND filters, you get a color shift in your images. Even with one filter, the shift is slight, but when you stack filters to get that silky foggy looking water, you get a bigger color shift.
The Lally Cap fits over the front of your lens.
Well, this thing is tiny. I can't even see it fitting over the front of a lens that has a 77mm filter thread size let alone the Cokin P filter holder.
It's going back. I already have the RMA for it.
I might as well use a coffee filter and give that a shot. At least that will fit over the filter holder that I use.

[windrivermaiden]

So. expound on this subject...

[Killjoy]

Ever taken an image and the color is just off a little?
Ever taken one, and it's off a lot?

You put the Expodisc on the front of your lens, and point it at your light source, and take a photo. Yes, even the sun if you need.
You then use the "Custom White Balance" setting in your camera and tell it that the image you just took is your white balance reference.

That will now get all your images to come out with the correct white balance.

I gotta admit that this thing isn't cheap. There are less expensive tools out there to do it with.
I've even read one blog where a photographer used a coffee filter between a couple of UV filters and got away with it.
He did say that the color balance was a little off, but close enough.
Hello! If it's "a little off" it's still off.

The first time I actually used one of these things was during a roller derby.
The lighting in the roller rink sucked!
One of the other photographers I was shooting with used his Expodisc and then handed it to me.
It took him ten seconds to explain how to use it, and it took me five seconds to do it to my camera.
I shot a couple in Auto White Balance, and the rest in the Custom setting I made.
What a difference.